Joburg is Africa’s most culturally vibrant city – CVIA

The index, launched in Nairobi on 27 April, provides a comprehensive overview of the environment for artists and creative entrepreneurs in Johannesburg, Kinshasa, Dakar, Nairobi, Tunis, Marrakesh, Luanda, Accra, Cairo, Lagos, Harare and Dar es Salaam.

The cities were ranked based on the availability and access to cultural venues and facilities, cultural policies that support the arts, and the cities’ capacity to promote culture.

Johannesburg has the highest overall ranking score for creating the most enabling environment for creativity, followed by Cairo and Lagos. Marrakesh, Tunis and Kinshasa are the least enabling cities.

CVIA is aimed at inspiring growth in the CCIs by highlighting the sector’s capacity for job creation, community cohesion, and youth engagement. The index provides much-needed data for investors, funders, creative entrepreneurs and other stakeholders by offering valuable insights into the gaps in the CCI landscape. In this regard, the index serves as a tool to aid decision making by stakeholders. Future updates to the index will include additional cities and track changes in the cities already mapped.

CVIA was conceptualised and funded by narrative change organisation Africa No Filter and developed by the Creative Economy Practice at CcHUB in Nigeria with funding support from the British Council. The Arab Fund for Arts and Culture and the World Cities of Culture Forum are part of the project’s advisory board, providing technical input.

“The availability and access to arts, culture and creativity is increasingly the mark of a successful city and developed economy,” Africa No Filter executive director Moky Makura said at the launch. “For us at Africa No Filter, it is also a measure of the support and infrastructure provided to African storytellers to enable them to share their stories, grow audiences and build their own sustainability as artists.

“This index will shine a much needed spotlight on the state of the creative landscape in Africa and help us all advocate for more support for storytellers on the continent. We have started with just 12 cities but our aim is to do this across all major cities on the continent.”

Ojoma Ochai, managing partner of the Creative Economy Practice at CcHUB, said the value of the index was its provision of comparative measurements to illustrate good practice, inspire dialogue and stimulate more support for the sector.

The British Council’s head of arts in Kenya, Sandra Chege, said: “We are excited to collaborate with Africa No Filter and the Creative Economy Practice at CcHUB to develop this important index. We look forward to engaging in the conversations and insight generated through this project on how cultural actors can strengthen the cultural infrastructure of cities across Africa to create a more enabling environment for creative and cultural practitioners.”